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The Golden Age of Home Automation Begins

Maybe it’s just me, but I think home automation is in a golden age. Not only that, but it’s just finally gaining mainstream recognition. People are joining the ranks of “automaters” everyday and they’re doing it on what I’d call easy-street.

There are still problems, and there are still difficulties with set up. However, companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple have made using their flagship products easier than anything we imagined 5 or 10 years ago. We were fighting with our Z-Wave, our x10, Insteon, Crestron, or worse. Those were still relatively easy devices (versus industrial automation) but nothing like the easy, feature-filled experience we now enjoy. As a result, people are buying the vaunted smart speaker in droves.

Not only that, but the type of people buying these products is surprising. It’s not the young, eager teens and young adults; it’s not your social media gurus; it’s not the naturally tech-savvy. No, it’s the middle-aged. It’s your father, your mother, your uncle, and your sister. It’s those of us over 35 and up to 80. There are people following Automate Your Life in their 80’s, and yes, they’re capable of dealing with this new world of automation.

I have now set up literally hundreds of smart home devices. I spent 15 minutes writing down the devices that let me down in set up or in the first year of their operation. I could only name 4 (no, I won’t name them even in a private forum like this). That’s amazing to think about, and honestly, it’s not like I do anything special. Most devices just work if you follow instructions.

Speaking of the devices…has there ever been more options? I remember the multitude of options a few years ago and thinking about how I didn’t want to jump in with any specific one (because I didn’t believe any would go forward for long). Nowadays though, the choices are literally endless. I mean, we have more than one smart microwave on the market now. Why? Because we can.

Our phones are a gateway. They’re so critical right now, along with our router. However, both of these devices are ready to handle this new brave world, and our ISPs and cellular services are ready as well. Never before have we had access to so much computing and networking power in our home. Our wireless standards are ready, and our network breakdown is about to become very apparent.

With the plentiful product choices, the many thousands of features available, different devices coming out every day, lower prices, and easy set up, this is truly a golden age in home and life automation. This is like the first iPhone. This is Google. This is the internet. Or is this just me?